Feeding device for woodworking machines and the like



Aug. 2, 1932. w. L. HARTNELL FEEDING DEVICE FOR WOODWORKING MACHINES ANDTHE LIKE Filed Jan. 24, 1950 INVENTOR HIS ATTORNEY WITNESS Patented Aug.2, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- WILLARD L. HAR'INELL, F BELOIT,WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO YATES-AMERICAN MA- CHINE COMPANY, OF BELOIT,WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE FEEDING DEVICE FOR WOODWORKING-MACHINES AND THE LIKE Application filed January v24,. 1930. Serial No.423,201. I

' This invention relates to certain novel improvements in feedingdevices for woodworking machines and the like, and has for its principalobject the provision of an improved to be handled thereby may bedirected thereinto from a position thereabove.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of the abovedescribed character that will be constantly forced in a predetermineddirection in order to insure proper engagement of the device with thematerial to be'handled thereby.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the abovedescribed character which will be so constructed that portions thereofwill be disposed at'varied distances from the center of rotation and inwhich other portions will be equidistantly spaced from the center ofrotation to provide an annular rolling surface.

Other objects will appear hereinafter. The invention consists in thenovel combi- I nation and arrangement of parts to be hereinafterdescribed and claimed.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanyingdrawing showing the preferred form of construction and in which:

Fig. 1 is a side view, drawn partly in elevation and partly in section,depicting the .prefferred form of construction for my invention;. 7 Fig.2 is atop plan view of my propelling member;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken substantial 1y on the line 3-3 on Fig.2 depicting my improved propelling member in propelling position; T

Fig. 1 is a view similar to Fig. 3'depicting the parts in another of theoperative positions; and

Fig. 5 is a View partly in elevation and partly in section looking inthe same direction as Figs. 3 and 4 depicting the embodiment of theinvention illustrated in Fig. 1.

In the accompanying drawing wherein I have illustrated the preferredform of construction for my invention, enerically indicates a feedconveyor embo ying rolls 11 which are preferably of the driven type.Extending up from the roller feed conveyor 10 are side walls 12 and 13which define therebetween a bin or material receiving space 14. The 'binor material receiving space 14 is intended to be slightly wider than thematerial to be handled in the device, and this material in the presentinstance is in the form of boards indicated by 15. If desired,

' the side walls of the bin 14 may be arranged to be adjustable in orderthat materialof I different widths may be handled in the device.

A stud shaft 16 extends into the bin 14: from the wall 12, and pivotallymounted thereon is an arm 17 A roller 18 is rotatably mounted at theouter end of the arm 17, and the roller 18 rests on theboards '15 restedon the rollers 11 of the feed conveyor 10 and serves to hold theseboards in engagement with said rollers.

At the forward end of the wall 12 is a supporting bracket 19 havingslots 20 therein. Extended through the slots 20 are bolts 21 which aremounted in the bunt block 22. Nuts 23 are provided on the bolts 21, andby tightening thebolts 23, the bunt block 22 may be locked in variousadjusted vertical positions to regulate the amount of opening betweenthe lower edge of the bunt block 22 and the upper edge of the feedroller 10. The

amount of this openin is preferably slightly greater than the thicknessof the boards 15 to be handled by the device.

My improved device includes a mechanism for driving the boards from thefeed conveyor 10 into a woodworking machine or the like, and includesthe following mechanisms. A suitable supporting bed 24 is provided whichhas guideways 25 therein in which the ribs 26 on the supporting member27 are slidablymounted. On the supporting bed 24 is a boss 28. Mountedon the supporting member 2'7 in alignment with the boss 28 is a boss 29.boss 29 and is freely extended through an opening in the boss 28. Aspring 31 is disposed around the rod between the bosses 28 and 29 andacts on the boss 29 to force the supporting member 27 outwardly awayfrom the supporting bed 24 into engagement with the stop 32.

A bevel gear 33 is rotatably supported by the supporting member 27 and ashaft 34 is extended through this bevel gear 33 and is keyed thereto asindicated at There fore, the bevel gear 33 will be movable with thesupporting member 27 relative to the shaft 34 and will also be rotatablewith said shaft 34.

Mounted on av stud shaft carried by the supporting member 27 is a bevelgear 36 that meshes with the bevel gear 33. Vertically aligned bearings37 and 38 are provided on the supporting member 27 inwhich a verticallyextending shaft 39 is Journaled. At the lower end of the shaft 39 is abevel gear 40 which meshes with the bevel gear 36. Therefore, when theshaft 34 is rotated to rotate the bevel gear 33, the bevel 36 will berotated, and therefore the bevel gear 40 and the shaft 39.

Fixed to the upper end of the shaft 39 is a member 41. The member 41embodies a portion 42 which is part of the circumference of a circledrawn from the center of the shaft 39, and also includes a portion 43which is eccentric with respect to such circle, and these portionsinclude a portion 44 whieh merges the portion 43 with the portion 42along an even curve. Depending from the member 41 along the portion 42thereof is a section 45. Another member 46 is pro ided which includes asection 47 that co-operates with the portion 42' to complete the circleheretofore referred to. The member 46 is also cut away, as indicated at63, in order that the member 46 may be tted about the shaft 39 below themember 41, the combined thickness of the members 41 and 46 being equalto the thickness of the boards 15. Studs 49 are fixed on the member 41and are'freely extended through openings in the member 46 and have nuts50 thereon. Springs 51 are disposed about the studs 49 between the nuts50 and the lower surface of the member 46 and serve to nor- A rod 30 isfixed to the mally urge the member 46 into the position depicted inFigs. 3 and 5.

As the boards 15 are fed into the bin 14, they collect on the rollers 11and the portion 47, as shown in 5. However, the weight of the roller 1.8will force the boards downwardly into the position depicted in Fig. 4and therefore the edge of the lowermost board 15 will be engaged by theeccentric surface As the shaft 39 rotates the members 41 and 46 in acounter-clockwise direction, the side edge of the lowermost board 15 isengaged by the portion 44 and then by the portion 42. During the timethis lowermost board is engaged by the portion 42 the springs 51 are aptto move the member 46 into the position depicted in Fig. 3, and it istherefore manifest that the lowermost board 15 is engaged by thesections 42 and 47 which cooperate to provide a circle and therefore thelowermost board 15 will be propelled forwardly as the shaft 39 isrotated. The roller provided by the sections 47 and 42 is urged intoengagement with the lowermost board 15 by the spring 31 which iscompressed as the less eccentric portions of the portions 43 and 44engage the lowermost board 15, for manifestly this will move thesupporting structure 27 relative to the supporting bed 24.

As best illustrated in Fig. 1, the device providing the driving rolleris mounted in uxtaposition to the bunt block 22. Therefore, as thelowermost board is driven forwardly, it will engage the firstco-operating pair of feed rolls 52 and 53. The feed rolls 52 and 53 aremounted on the shafts 54 and 55. A similar pair of shafts 56 and 57 areprovided forwardly of the shafts 54 and 55, and these shafts 56 and 57also carry feed rollers, and as the lowermost board 15 is drivenforwardly, it is engaged by these feed rollers and forced into themachine. The shafts supporting the feed rollers are mounted invertically adjustable blocks 58 and 59 which have a spring 60 disposedtierebetween. A spring 61 acts on the block 58 to force the same towardthe block 59, and a spring 62 similarly acts on the block 59 to forcesaid block 59 toward the block 58 and movement of the blocks toward eachother is limited by the spring 60 which prevents the blocks engagingeach other but which permits the rollers carried by the shafts ourn aledin the blocks to tightly engage the board disposed therebetween in orderto propel the same forwardly.

It is manifest from the foregoing description that I have provided apropelling device which will be eccentric for a portion of itsrevolution to permit an article to be fed thereinto but which will alsooperate to be substantially annular in order to drive the articleforwardly. It is manifest that after one board has been driven from themachine another board will be inserted into the device ga s-9a insubstantially the manner set forth and additional boards will becontinually fed into the bin 14 in any desired manner.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred form ofconstruction for carrying my invention into effect, this is capable ofvariation and modification without departing from the spirit of theinvention. 1, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the precisedetails of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of suchvariations and modifications as come within the scope of the appendedclaims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is:

1. A feeding device for woodworking machines comprising propelling meansadapted to engage the side edges of the boards or the like to bepropelled, means for supporting said propelling means, and yieldablemeans for forcing said propelling means toward the boards or the like tobe propelled thereby, said propelling means including two noncircularmembers cooperating in a certain position to form a circular member andone of which is adapted for moving said propelling means in a directionaway from the boards or the like to be propelled thereby to permit saidboards or the like to be engaged by said circular propelling member.

2. A feeding device for woodworking machines comprising a supportingbin, means for forcing articles in said supporting bin toward the loweredge thereof, means at one end of said supporting bin for preventingmovement of said articles from said end of said bin, means for forcingsaid articles past said last named member including propelling means,said propelling means comprising supporting means, yieldable meansconnecting said supporting means and said propelling means, saidpropelling means including two non-circular rotatable memberscooperating in a certain position to form a circular member and arrangedone above the other, the upper one of said members being adapted forengaging said articles to move said propelling means in a direction awayfrom said articles to be engaged by said circular member and propelledthereby.

8. In a device of the character stated, a supporting bin, means forforcing articles in said supporting bin toward the lower edge thereof,means at one end of said supporting bin for preventing movement of saidarticles from said end of said bin, means for forcingsaid articles pastsaid last named member including propelling means adaptedto engage theside edges of said articles, said propelling means comprising rotatablemeans and supporting means for said rotatable means, and yieldable meansacting on said supporting means for urging said propelling means intopropelling position, said rotatable means ineluding a shaft andpropelling members eccentrically I mounted on said shaft, one of whichis adapted to engage thc'articles to be propelled whereby saidpropelling means may bemoved against the action of said urging means topermit the other of said eccentric propelling members to move intopropelling position to provide with the first named eccentric member acircular propelling member.

4. A feeding device for woodworking machines comprising propelling meansadapted to engage the side edges of the boards or the like to bepropelled, means for supporting said propelling means, and yieldablemeans for forcing said propelling means toward the boards or the like tobe propelled thereby, said propelling means including two noncircularmembers cooperating in a certain positionto form a circular member andone of which is adapted for moving said propelling means in a directionaway from the boards or the like to be propelled thereby to permit saidboards or the like to be engaged by said circular propelling member,said members being arranged one above the other, and yieldable meansconnecting said members whereby when said boards or the like are movedonto the lower of said members said lower member will be moved away fromthe upper member so that the upper member will tend to move saidprojecting means away from the boards to permit said circular member toengage said boards or the like when said boards are moved ofi said low-,

er member and said lower member ismoved back into position parallel withsaid upper member.

5. In a device for feeding boards to a woodworking machine, apower-driven feed roll for engagement with the edge of each board, saidroll havinga peripheral section which is yieldable downwardly tofacilitate movement of a board downwardly into opposition to the roll.

6. In a device for feeding boards to a woodworking machine, apower-driven feed roll having a circular lower portion for feeding aboard and an eccentric upper portion for effecting engagement of thelower portion with the board.

7 In a device for feeding boards to a woodworking machine, apower-driven feed roll for engagement with the edge of each board,

and cam means at the location of the roll for properly positionin theroll with res ect to the edge of each bo ard. p

8. In a device for feeding boards to a wood- I working machine, meansfor supporting a stack of boards, a power-driven feed roll engageablewith the edge of the lowermost board for feeding the same forwardlyfrombeneath the stack, and means at the location of the feed roll forautomatically positioning the latter in operative relation to the edgeof the lowermost board.

9. In a device for feeding boards to a woodworking machine, means forsupporting a stack of boards, a power-driven feed roll engageable withthe edge of the lowermost board for feeding the same forwardly frombeneath the stack, and means mounted on the feed roll for automaticallypositioning the latter in operative relation to the edge of thelowermost board.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

WILLARD L. HARTNELL

